1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tapered roller bearing for supporting a rotating component of various machines and equipments and a method of designing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a crowning profile of a roller rolling surface in the tapered roller bearing.
2. Description of Related Art
The crowning profile in the tapered bearing assembly may be defined in any one of an inner ring, an outer ring and a plurality of rolling elements (rollers), and suggestions have been hitherto made to define the principal crowning profile in rolling elements (such as disclosed in the patent document 1 listed below) or in the inner and outer rings (such as disclosed in the patent document 2 listed below). The crowning profile referred to above hitherto suggested is generally designed in a combination of arcuate and rectilinear lines, but it has also been known that if a curved line expressed by a logarithmic function or an approximated curve thereof is used in designing the crowning profile, not only a reduction in contact pressure and/or stress at a contact area, but also an extended life can be obtained as compared with those available with the use of any other curved lines (such as disclosed in any one of the patent documents 3, 4 and 5 listed below).